It is ironic that often knowledge about Agile gets in the way of Agility. Knowledge gets people bogged down in the theory, and the uncertainty of where to start paralyses them. I had the opportunity to test this idea when I got invited to coach a management team with no experience in Agile. By giving the team the bare minimum to get started with Scrum, and then helping them to figure out their journey driven by the problems they encountered and the questions they asked as they understood more and more of the framework, the team picked up ideas more easily and with more eagerness than teams that receive a full training in advance.

This approach seems to lighten the cognitive load by creating a pull system for knowledge. In effect, we approach learning by the same principles of Scrum: we prioritise the work (in this case, the learnings) and then focus on each item sequentially. This allows the team to take ownership of each new piece of knowledge, and gradually over the complete framework. The team becomes the driver of change.

Additionally, this approach reveals a structure for Scrum Masters to better decide when to help a team, and when to let them struggle, based on the risks involved. On the one side, the struggle as an effective learning experience for the team. On the other side, the risk of a team struggling too long and ending up demotivated.